Frontman Reverb PR-241
Reviewed by:
HGaniere, on november 01, 2012 0 of 2 people found this review helpful

Price paid: $ 50

Purchased from: Pawn Shop

Features: The Frontman Reverb series by Fender was started in 1997. The amp. Is very reliable and makes a good practice amp. I play Progressive Metal and the amp isn't too good for high gain distortion but can give you that nice clean tone you've always wanted. There are two channels. It has channel switching, but it cannot hook up to a petal. There is only one effect on the amp and it is Reverb. There is a Headphone Jack and a EXT. Speaker Jack. I use every feature on the amp. I mostly use the amp in my room for practice. It has enough power to get the job done. It's a Solid State amp that sounds better than most tube amps. // 6

Sound: I use a Gibson Les Paul Custom in all pickup positions with the amp. I play Progressive Metal and it doesn't suit my music style too well, but the amp does sound good for Blues. The amp can be noisy at times. The amp sounds are mostly a 1950's warm tone. There's not too much variety in the amp. The clean channel does get distorted at high volumes around 7 on the amp. The distortion isn't too heavy, it sounds like a MXR Distortion Plus. // 4

Reliability & Durability: You can depend on it very well. If I was to gig with it I would probably take a backup because it is only a 38 Watt amp. The amp has never broken down on me once. The plate is made out of Metal so it can take a lot of abuse. // 10

Overall Impression: Since the style of music I play is Progressive Metal it isn't too good of a match. I've been playing since the spring of 2009, almost 4 years. I own a Line 6 Spider IV 75 Watt amp that I mostly use and a Ibanez RG570. If the amp was stolen/lost I probably wouldn't buy another one because there are better practice amps. I love how good the tone is of the amp. I hate the hissing. And my favorite feature is the Reverb. I've compared it to multiple amps and I chose this amp because it was the cheapest. I wish I had a Spider Valve Full Stack. // 4

Frontman Reverb PR-241
Reviewed by:
tmikey2102, on june 14, 2013 0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Price paid: $ 30

Purchased from: ebay

Features: This little 38w ss amp came with a Korean Squier Strat that I just got on the eBay, and honestly, I didn't pay any attention to it when I bought the guitar. I knew that it was a Frontman, but pretty much just assumed that it was like a 10 or a 15 that was going to be a give-away when I got it. I've already got my share of amps around, and don't need another one, but it came with the guitar, so there you are.
So today I'm getting ready to take a few pictures and throw the thing on craigslist and just for fun I plug into it and fire it up. All I can say is "HOLY S***!" This little bugger is a BEAST! Granted, a solid state beast, but that being said, the tones that were emanating from the 6 1/2 inch speaker (which I was SURE had to have been replaced at some point with a Celestion or something, until I pulled the back off... Nope, just a stock Fender 8 ohm speaker!) were not to be believed, on both the clean AND distorted channels. The reverb is clean and crisp, and it's as quiet as any ss amp I've ever used, and that's been a few, lemme tell you. No footswitch, no built-in effects, no bullsh-t, just one kicka-s little practice amp. I love that it has an output for an external 8 ohm speaker, I'm going to look around for a cab that I can plug into just to see what this thing's REALLY got to say! Headphone out, too, for when the baby's sleeping. // 10

Sound: Believe it or not, the guitar that I had plugged into it when it left me breathless was a Korean Synsonics Pro series Strat copy, which, laugh all you want, is actually a great little guitar for the money if you can find one (you can usually get 'em for about $50). I'm no brand-name snob, I play what plays well and sounds good regardless of the name, hence the search for the Korean Squier Strat that brought us here in the first place (which, btw, is freaking AMAZING). Clean channel is warm and toasty, nice and smooth with a good Fender feel to it (I used to play through a '68 Fender Bandmaster 2x12, so I know from whence I speak), and the distorted channel ranges from crisp and chunky to screaming hot. Of course with something of this size, if you crank the clean channel it's going to distort some, duh. I would have to say that it fits my musical style in that, when I want to hear myself practice, it helps to have AN AMP, and this is definitely one of those. // 10

Reliability & Durability: Since I just got it, I really can't speak to it's long-term durability, although I think that these were made in the late nineties, so for being over a Decade old, it's obviously held up well. It's built like a tank, metal grille and all, but, like any ss amp, it could crap out at any moment. But you can get 'em cheap! Go out and buy another one! Would I use it on a gig without a backup? That depends - where is the gig? It really couldn't be in a space bigger than the average bedroom, 'cause it's got A 6 1/2 INCH SPEAKER! Alright, I suppose that you could mike it through the P.A., in which case, go out and spend another $35 on a spare one for a backup, carry them both in under one arm and your girl on the other and you're good to go. // 10

Overall Impression: This is a good fit for my style of music which is typically guitar, amplified. Sometimes quiet, sometimes loud, occasionally acoustic, but then it wouldn't fit my style at that point I guess. I've been playing on and off for about 35 years, I play mostly '80s hard rock and write and record a lot of my own stuff as well. I now have 7 guitars in the herd; Samick Greg Bennett FB3 Fastback, Korean Squier Stratocaster, Synsonics Pro Series strat copy, Squier X-155 Full-depth hollow body, Washburn bass, Telluride TD-5CE ac/el and Olympia OD-5 acoustic.
At present I have 4 amps; Fender Frontman Reverb PR-241, Marshall MG15DFX, Crate GFX65 and Crate BT100 bass amp. If it were lost or stolen, I wouldn't bother replacing it, but that in no way takes away from it's balls. Didn't compare it with anything else, it just fell into my lap and I am highly impressed. How great to actually be surprised at the quality of this thing. If you can get your hands on one that's in good shape, buy it. // 10

You may have missed the fact that this is someone else's review...not yours. What that means, (in simple words, so you might understand) is that he gets to give 'his' impressions about the amp...not 'yours.' This may be a tough concept for you to get your head around ("What, you mean MY opinion doesn't rule????"), but that's how this Reviewing thing works. Sorry.

A good friend of mine just gave me his. He has an SS 100 watt Marshall and, another ss Fender amp. I just got through playing through it with head phones and it sounds pretty good for an expensive beginner amp. Made in Mexico. I did not need this amp it was given to me. I have ten other fine amps and, all are tube except for one. It is not a Marshall 1987X or a Fender Super Reverb but, what the heck, I like it just the same! Most of my amps are low watt from 1 to 15 watts. I've been playing since I was a teen and, know I'm in my late 50s. This amp is probably better then the first one I had as a kid. For being solid state it does produce a warm tone. This thing is pretty cool for being an intro amp.

I had the 1996 15w made in USA version. The clean was ok but the drive channel sucked miles away.
I can say with my hand on heart that this amp was the worst i ever had.
I wish they will reissue the 63 vibro verb again, the best clean amp ever made.

I got mine with my first guitar (MiM Strat) ~12 years ago, and it still works quite well. The sound is decent, more than adequate for practice. I would say that the case durability is excellent, but Fender cheaper out on their plastic backed jacks, I had to solder a new one in.
I do not know what kind of bozo would call this the best sounding amp and it obviously was not designed to compete with anything in the higher end. Still, it is no frills and gets a nice sound for practicing at home.

got one, we use it in the band for acoustic gigs, since we don't need a lot of volume, the other day i was tryin the squier tele through it, turned the gain all the way up, on the distortion channel, had ta turn the volume down, but it was not bad, jammin with it, kinda fun, it was real crunchy, for the price, it's hard ta beat

Got one used at GC for 29.00 around 2005. Hardly use it but just playing around and realize it does have nice tone and is actually not bad for what it does. No better value at that price point. I have borrowed from GC over the Summer, Fender Mustang 1, V head, Peavey 2 and 3, Black star 1ht, Crate 35, Fender Deluxe, Vox Vt80, Vox ac4c1-12, Roland Mini gx Cube, Line 6 Spiderjam. I returned all but the last two. I just love the real tube dynamics but having a valve pedal can get that feel with any amp. I like the Vox 80+ maybe the best but it had a fault so I didn't want to keep that one. All had nice features or tones...Wish Summer was not over.

just picked up one from kijiji for 25 bucks. the clean tone and the reverb is awesome. distortion mode passed 4 is just unusable. very trebly and muddy bass/mids. i keep all eqs rolled off and bass at 3, master at .5; gives a nice bedroom level sound. loving it for the price the paid. highly recommended for a practice amp. i usually play through tubes but it is not and never close to any tubey distortion what so ever!
regards from calgary